How to Complete the RPLS Participant Profile Assignment: Life Stage Characteristics, Programs, and Marketing Plans
A section-by-section guide to the life stage profiling assignment — what goes in each required component, how to approach the six programs and marketing plans, what the fact sheet needs to contain, and where most student presentations fall short before they even reach the marketing tips section.
Your group has been assigned a life stage. Now you need to produce a complete participant profile — characteristics, interests and trends, marketing tips, six programs with individual marketing plans, a fact sheet, brochures, and a PowerPoint presentation. Each of these components has a distinct purpose and a distinct structure. Treating the whole assignment as one long document and hoping the content sorts itself out is how groups lose marks on every component simultaneously. This guide walks through exactly what each section requires, where the research should come from, and how the presentation should be structured — so you can apply those frameworks to whichever life stage your group was assigned.
This guide does not complete the assignment for you. It explains the structure, the research approach, and the logic behind each deliverable so your group can apply those to your assigned life stage. The examples below reference commonly assigned life stages — Teens, Baby Boomers, Older Adults, Children, Young Adults — but the framework is the same regardless of which stage your group received.
What This Guide Covers
Understanding What the Assignment Is Actually Testing
The participant profile assignment is a program planning exercise in applied recreation and leisure studies. It tests whether you can translate demographic and behavioural data about a population group into actionable recreation programming decisions. The core competency is not research — it is the ability to connect what you know about a life stage to specific program designs and specific marketing decisions that would reach and engage that population.
The assignment has two distinct knowledge layers running in parallel. The first is descriptive: who is this life stage group, what are their characteristics, what are they interested in, and what are they spending money on? The second is applied: given that profile, what six recreation programs would meaningfully serve this group, and how would you market those programs using techniques the industry actually uses? Both layers need to be present throughout — a profile that is detailed but never connects to program decisions, or programs that are not grounded in the profile data, will underperform on both halves of the rubric.
The marketing tips section of this assignment asks for two things: general tips the industry uses to reach the life stage, and a specific application to RPLS programs and facilities. The example in the assignment instructions makes this structure clear — a marketing tip about repetition in advertising is followed by its specific application to a parks and recreation agency context. Many students research general marketing principles and stop there, without completing the RPLS application step. Both halves are required for every marketing tip your group includes.
What Your Life Stage Assignment Involves
Life stages are defined developmental and demographic cohorts — broad groupings of people who share age ranges, life circumstances, and behavioural patterns relevant to recreation and leisure participation. The National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA) and the broader recreation programming literature organise programming around these cohorts precisely because life stage predicts leisure behaviour, health priorities, time availability, spending capacity, and preferred activity formats.
Common life stage assignments include Toddlers and Young Children, School-Age Children, Tweens, Teenagers, Young Adults, Adults, Baby Boomers, and Older Adults/Seniors. Each has a distinctive profile across all the dimensions the assignment requires. Before beginning any research, your group needs to confirm the exact boundaries of your assigned life stage — age range, which sub-groups it includes (for example, “Older Adults” might mean 65+ or might be divided into Young-Old 65–74 and Old-Old 75+), and whether the assignment specifies a particular geographic or demographic context.
Children / Tweens / Teens
High dependency on parental decision-making; peer influence dominates trend adoption; school schedules structure leisure time; digital recreation competes with physical activity. Marketing targets both the child and the parent.
Young Adults / Adults
Time scarcity is the dominant barrier to leisure participation; career and family formation compete with recreation; fitness and social connection motivate participation; disposable income varies widely across the cohort.
Baby Boomers / Older Adults
Largest cohort in many recreation systems; discretionary time increases post-retirement; health maintenance is a primary motivation; social isolation is a risk factor that recreation programming can address; brand loyalty is strong.
Section 1: Building the Characteristics Profile
The characteristics section is the empirical foundation of the entire assignment. Everything that follows — the programs, the marketing tips, the brochure copy — should connect back to something established in the characteristics profile. A thin or generic characteristics section means the rest of the assignment has nothing to build on.
The assignment instructions specify the categories to consider: demographics, spending patterns, health issues, living arrangements, and educational/occupational/income statistics. These are not a checklist to run through briefly — each category needs substantive data specific to your life stage, drawn from credible sources (census data, government health surveys, industry reports). The instruction to “not limit yourselves to the ones listed” is a signal to add categories that are particularly relevant to your assigned life stage — for Teenagers, social media use and digital leisure statistics; for Older Adults, mobility data and chronic condition prevalence; for Baby Boomers, retirement timing and travel spending patterns.
The assignment instructions explicitly state: “Be sure to include a reference page.” Every statistic in the characteristics section must be traceable to a specific source. General statements without citations — “Teenagers spend a lot of time on social media” — carry no weight in a graded academic profile. Use government data sources (CDC, Statistics Canada, US Census Bureau, ABS), peer-reviewed recreation literature, and established industry bodies (NRPA, WHO). The reference page format should match whatever citation style your course uses — check your course outline.
Section 2: Interests, Trends, and Fads
The interests/trends/fads section profiles what the life stage cohort is currently doing, buying, and participating in across recreation and leisure contexts. The assignment frames this as “what they are buying, how are they vacationing, what are they doing, what’s ‘in’ and what’s ‘out.'” That framing is useful — it separates durable interests from current trends from passing fads, which is a relevant distinction for program planning (programs built around fads have short shelf lives; programs built around durable interests sustain participation over time).
How to Structure the Research for This Section
Start with the durable recreation interests of the life stage — the activities that have consistently defined leisure participation for this cohort over the past decade. Then layer in current trends — things that have grown significantly in participation or spending in the last two to four years. Finally, identify fads — high-profile activities or consumption patterns that appear to be peaking or already declining. For each category, note where participation data comes from so it can be cited.
Sources for Interests and Trends Data
The assignment suggests newspapers, magazines, and trade journals as primary sources. In practice, the most credible and citable sources for recreation and leisure trends by life stage include:
- NRPA’s annual Americans’ Engagement with Parks report
- Outdoor Foundation Outdoor Participation Trends report
- Nielsen consumer behaviour reports
- Mintel leisure and recreation sector reports
- Sports and Fitness Industry Association (SFIA) participation data
- Life stage–specific trade publications (e.g., Parks & Recreation magazine)
What “Be Observant” Means in Practice
The assignment instruction to “be observant” — look at what’s around you wherever you go — is a prompt to add qualitative, ethnographic observation to the quantitative data. This means visiting facilities, shopping areas, parks, and public spaces where your life stage congregates, and noting what you see. Observed trends that you can corroborate with a cited source are more compelling than data alone. Observations without corroboration should be framed as such — “anecdotally observed” — not presented as fact.
Durable Interests: Identify 4–6 recreation activities that data shows have consistently high participation rates in your cohort over at least a 5-year period. Cite SFIA or NRPA participation data.
Current Trends (Growing): Identify 3–4 activities, spending categories, or vacation types showing significant growth in participation or expenditure in the last 2–3 years. Cite dated industry reports.
Fads (Peaking or Declining): Identify 2–3 activities or products that have peaked in popularity and appear to be declining. Distinguish these explicitly from the trends — programs built on fads have short viability windows.
The three-tier structure (durable / growing / fading) gives your program planning section a logical foundation — you design programs around durable interests, incorporate growing trends to keep offerings current, and avoid anchoring new programs to fads that will not sustain participation.
Section 3: Developing the Marketing Tips
The marketing tips section is the component most students under-develop, and it is arguably the most directly applicable component of the assignment to professional recreation practice. The assignment asks for two parallel outputs: a list of tips that industry uses to target your life stage as consumers, and a specific application of each tip to RPLS programs and facilities. Both columns are required for every tip.
The example the assignment provides — using repetition in advertising to build product recognition, applied to putting an agency logo on all materials and sponsoring a logo contest for teen programs — shows the format and the level of specificity expected. The RPLS application is not a generic restatement of the marketing tip. It names specific program types, specific materials, and specific actions a parks and recreation agency would take.
How to Research Marketing Strategies for Your Life Stage
Look for how consumer industries — not just recreation — target your life stage. Retail, entertainment, food, and technology companies invest heavily in marketing research for specific demographic cohorts. What they have learned about reaching Teenagers, Baby Boomers, or Young Adults through advertising and engagement strategies is directly transferable to recreation marketing. Sources to research:
- Marketing trade publications: Advertising Age, Marketing Week, Journal of Marketing
- NRPA’s Parks & Recreation magazine for RPLS-specific marketing practice
- American Marketing Association resources on demographic segmentation
- Platform-specific advertising guides (Meta, Google, TikTok) which publish demographic targeting data
- Academic marketing literature on generational consumer behaviour
Structuring Each Marketing Tip
Aim for six to eight well-developed marketing tips rather than a longer list of shallow ones. Each tip needs: (1) a clear label naming the strategy, (2) a two-to-three sentence explanation of how the industry uses this strategy to reach your life stage and why it works for this cohort, and (3) a specific RPLS application describing exactly how a parks and recreation department would implement this strategy for its programs. The RPLS application must be concrete — it should name the type of program, the medium, the specific action, or the facility feature.
| Marketing Strategy Category | What It Involves | Why Life Stage Matters Here |
|---|---|---|
| Channel Selection | Choosing which media channels — social platforms, print, radio, in-person — the life stage actually uses and trusts | Channels vary sharply by age cohort: Teens use TikTok and Instagram; Older Adults use Facebook, newspapers, and community bulletin boards. Using the wrong channel wastes the entire marketing budget. |
| Messaging and Tone | Language register, visual style, and values-alignment in how programs are described and promoted | Messages that resonate with one cohort can repel another. Baby Boomers respond to independence and vitality messaging; Children respond to fun and peer participation; Young Adults respond to social connection and health outcomes. |
| Timing and Scheduling | When marketing is delivered and when programs are offered, matched to the life stage’s time availability | School schedules, work patterns, retirement status, and caregiving responsibilities all determine when a cohort is available for and receptive to recreation programming. Scheduling a program at the wrong time eliminates the audience regardless of marketing quality. |
| Influencer and Peer Effects | Using trusted figures, peer recommendations, or community endorsements to drive participation | Peer influence peaks in adolescence but operates across all life stages. Older Adults respond to physician recommendations; Teens respond to peer and micro-influencer promotion; Parents respond to other parents’ endorsements of children’s programs. |
| Pricing and Incentive Structure | How program costs are framed, subsidised, bundled, or incentivised to match the cohort’s income level and price sensitivity | Income and price sensitivity vary significantly by life stage. Children’s programs must be accessible to low-income families to serve the full cohort; Young Adults respond to trial pricing and flexible commitments; Boomers are less price-sensitive but respond to value-for-money framing. |
| Place and Access | Where programs are offered, how accessible the facility is, and how participation barriers are reduced | Geographic access, transportation options, childcare provision, and physical accessibility all vary by life stage and determine whether a well-designed, well-marketed program is actually reachable by the target cohort. |
Section 4: Creating Six Recreation Programs
Six programs are required, each designed for your assigned life stage. These are not hypothetical concepts — they are specific programs you would actually propose to an RPLS agency. Each program must be grounded in the profile you built in sections one and two: the program design should be justifiable by pointing to something in the characteristics or interests/trends data.
The six programs should not all be the same type. Vary across activity categories (physical, social, creative, educational, environmental), delivery formats (drop-in, structured course, one-time event, ongoing club), and settings (indoor/outdoor, facility-based/community-based). Presenting six variations of the same format — six fitness classes, for example — demonstrates limited program planning range.
Physical / Active Programs
Activity-based programs addressing the health needs identified in the characteristics section. Should align with the fitness and recreation participation data from the interests section. Examples vary significantly by life stage — from adaptive aquatics for Older Adults to skateboarding clinics for Teens.
Social / Community Programs
Programs addressing the social connection and community belonging needs of the cohort. The NRPA identifies social connectedness as a primary outcome of quality recreation programming across all life stages, but the form it takes varies: teen social clubs, adult co-ed sports leagues, senior lunch programs.
Creative / Arts Programs
Programs in arts, crafts, music, drama, or digital creation. These often serve the interests and spending data you will find in your trends research — creative industries targeting your life stage can inform what formats will attract participation.
Environmental / Outdoor Programs
Programs using natural settings — parks, trails, waterways — which are a core asset of parks and recreation agencies. Participation in outdoor recreation has documented physical and mental health benefits cited in research across all life stages (Soga et al., 2021).
Educational / Developmental Programs
Programs with a skill-building or educational component, matched to the developmental needs and interests of the life stage. For children, these often integrate learning outcomes. For adults, they may address career-adjacent skills or financial wellness alongside recreation.
Events / Special Programs
One-time or periodic events rather than ongoing series — festivals, competitions, special workshops, community celebrations. These serve as both programming and marketing tools, introducing non-participants to agency facilities and programs. Plan one event-format program among the six.
For each program, state: the program name, a brief description of what participants do, the target age range within the life stage, the format (drop-in, registered course, event), the setting (indoor/outdoor, facility name if relevant), the duration and frequency, any equipment or staffing requirements, the pricing structure, and which characteristics or interests/trends data from your profile justify the program design. The last point is critical — grounding each program in the profile is what demonstrates the profile work was used, not just researched.
Section 5: Writing a Marketing Plan for Each Program
A marketing plan for a recreation program is not a list of where you will put flyers. It is a structured plan connecting the target participant profile to specific promotional strategies, channels, messaging, timing, and measurable goals. For this assignment, each of the six programs requires its own marketing plan — and the plans should differ from each other, reflecting the different target sub-groups, formats, and program goals within your overall life stage assignment.
The core structure of a recreation program marketing plan covers: who the specific target audience is within the broader life stage, what the key message is (what benefit the program delivers), which channels will be used to reach that audience and why, what the promotional timeline is, and what success looks like in terms of registration or participation targets. This does not need to be lengthy — a focused one-page plan per program is appropriate at this assignment level — but every component must be present and the channel and message choices must be justifiable from the life stage profile.
Step 1: Define the Target Within the Life Stage
Not all members of a life stage are the same participant. A Teens program for competitive athletes requires different marketing than one for teens new to recreation. An Older Adults health program targets a different sub-group than an Older Adults art club. Name the specific sub-segment for each program before writing the plan.
Step 2: State the Core Message
What is the one thing your promotional materials must communicate about this program? It should be a benefit statement, not a description — not “yoga class on Tuesday evenings” but “build strength and reduce stress in 60 minutes, no experience needed.” The message should reflect what you know from the characteristics section about this cohort’s motivations and barriers.
Step 3: Select Channels and Justify Them
Choose two to four promotional channels for this program. Each channel choice must be justified by something in the interests/trends data — if your profile shows that Baby Boomers in your cohort read the local newspaper, that is your justification for a print ad. Channels without justification are guesses, not a plan.
Step 4: Set a Promotional Timeline
When does each promotional action happen relative to the program start date? At minimum: initial awareness campaign (4–6 weeks out), registration push (2–3 weeks out), reminder and confirmation (1 week out). Timing matches the life stage’s decision-making patterns — some cohorts make decisions months in advance; others register the week before.
Step 5: Define a Participation Target
How many participants would make this program viable? What is the maximum capacity? Having a number — even a rough one — turns a promotional plan into an accountable plan. It also connects the marketing investment to a concrete outcome, which is how real RPLS agencies evaluate program marketing effectiveness.
Section 6: The Fact Sheet and Tip Sheet
The fact sheet is the single-page handout distributed to the class during the presentation. The assignment calls it a “tip sheet” in the presentation bullet points — in practice, it functions as a concise summary of your life stage profile, suitable for a professional who works with this population and needs a quick reference document. It is not a slide printout. It is a designed, standalone document.
The fact sheet should be self-contained — someone who was not in the presentation should be able to read it and understand the key characteristics of the life stage, the major recreation trends, and the primary marketing insights. Keep it to one page, use clear headings, and prioritise the data points most relevant to a recreation and leisure professional working with this cohort. Every statistic on the fact sheet must be sourced on the reference page, even if the reference is printed in small type at the bottom of the sheet itself.
What to Include in the Fact Sheet
- Life stage name and age range
- Population size (with source)
- 3–4 key demographic statistics
- Top 3–4 recreation interests/trends
- 2–3 primary health characteristics relevant to recreation
- 2–3 key marketing insights for RPLS agencies
- Program highlights (names of your six programs)
- Reference source abbreviations or URLs at the bottom
Format Considerations for the Fact Sheet
One page, printed in colour. Use columns and visual hierarchy — a wall of text does not function as a reference document. Your course may specify a format; if not, a two-column layout with a header section for key statistics and a body section for trends and tips works well. The fact sheet is also a demonstration of your group’s ability to distil and communicate information — it is a professional skill, not just a summary task.
Section 7: Brochure Copy for Each Program
The assignment requires brochure copy for each of the six programs. “Brochure copy” means the written text that would appear in a promotional brochure — not the design of the brochure itself, though a designed version is stronger if your group has the capacity. The copy for each program brochure must do the persuasive and informational work a real program brochure does: attract the target participant, communicate the benefit, provide the practical information needed to register, and reflect the voice and values of a professional parks and recreation agency.
Headline: One compelling line that names the program and its primary benefit. Avoid generic titles. “Tuesday Yoga” is a title. “Build Strength. Reduce Stress. 60 Minutes, No Experience Needed.” is a headline.
Program Description (2–3 sentences): What participants will do, what they will gain, and who the program is designed for. Written in second person (“You will…”) or in active, benefit-focused language.
Practical Details: Dates, time, location, cost, age range, registration information, contact details. These must be present — a brochure without registration information cannot convert interest into participation.
Call to Action: A specific instruction — “Register online at [URL]”, “Call us at [number]”, “Drop in — no registration required.” Every brochure needs one clear next step.
The tone of the copy should match the life stage. Teen program copy uses different language than Senior program copy. The voice must be appropriate to the cohort — not corporate and formal for children’s programs, not casual and slang-heavy for older adult programs.
Section 8: The PowerPoint Presentation
The presentation is where all the components come together, but the slide deck is not a document — it is a visual support for a spoken presentation. The most common mistake in group presentations is treating slides as speaker notes and filling them with the text from the fact sheet and profile. Slides should display key data, images, program summaries, and marketing examples in a format that is readable at the back of a classroom — not paragraphs of text the presenter reads aloud.
The assignment requires the presentation to showcase the six programs and the marketing plan. That is a clear content requirement. What it does not specify is the slide-by-slide structure — your group decides how to organise the flow. A logical structure moves from profile overview (who this life stage is) through programs (what you designed) to marketing (how you would reach them), with the fact sheet handout reviewed at the start or end. Each program likely deserves its own slide or short slide sequence, showing the program concept and its marketing plan together.
Presentation Structure That Works for This Assignment
- Slide 1 — Title + Life Stage Overview: Group name, life stage, age range. One striking statistic about the cohort population size or a key characteristic that frames why this group matters to RPLS.
- Slides 2–3 — Characteristics Summary: Key demographic, spending, and health data in visual format (infographic style, charts, or bullet summaries). Do not replicate the full fact sheet — highlight the 5–6 data points most relevant to your program designs.
- Slide 4 — Interests, Trends, and Fads: Visual summary — a “what’s in / what’s out” format works well and is engaging. Source data should be visible but does not need to be full citations on screen.
- Slides 5–6 — Marketing Tips: Present 4–6 tips in a two-column format (Industry Tip | RPLS Application), matching the assignment’s own example format. This section should feel practical and actionable.
- Slides 7–13 — Six Programs (one to two slides each): Program name, brief description, target sub-group, format, and a one-line summary of the marketing approach for that program. Include an image relevant to the activity type.
- Slide 14 — Closing + Reference Reminder: Brief closing statement, note that the fact sheet and brochures are available, reference page location.
Where to Find the Research
The assignment explicitly names three source types: newspapers, magazines, and trade journals. It also suggests using web search, names specific research topics (Baby Boomers and spending patterns; Children and physical activity/health), and instructs students to “be observant.” Translated to an academic assignment context, this means your source list should span primary data sources, trade publications, and peer-reviewed research — not rely exclusively on any one type.
The World Health Organization publishes Global Action Plan on Physical Activity 2018–2030 and associated life stage–specific physical activity guidelines at who.int/publications/i/item/9789241514187. This provides authoritative, citable health and activity data relevant to every life stage and is directly applicable to program justification in the RPLS context. The WHO data is updated, globally recognised, and appropriate for inclusion in both the characteristics section and the individual program marketing plans where health benefits are claimed.
Where Most Groups Lose Marks
Characteristics Not Connected to Programs
Producing a detailed characteristics profile and then designing six programs that bear no clear connection to that profile. If the characteristics show the cohort has high rates of diabetes and low physical activity, and then none of the six programs address physical health, the assignment’s core logic — profile informs programs — has not been demonstrated.
Instead
Before finalising your six programs, check each one against the profile. Can you point to something in the characteristics or interests/trends section that justifies this program? If not, either revise the program or add the relevant data to the profile. The connection should be explicit — state it in the program description: “This program responds to the high rates of social isolation identified in the Older Adults characteristics data.”
Marketing Tips Without RPLS Application
Listing marketing strategies used to reach the life stage — “social media advertising,” “peer influence campaigns,” “loyalty programs” — without completing the RPLS application column. The assignment is explicit that each tip requires both the industry strategy and its specific application to parks and recreation programs and facilities.
Instead
For every marketing tip, ask: what would an RPLS agency specifically do with this strategy? Name the program type, the medium, the action, or the facility feature. “Use social media advertising” is not an RPLS application. “Create a dedicated Instagram account for teen programs with user-generated content from participants” is an RPLS application.
Six Programs That Are All the Same Type
Designing six fitness classes, six sport programs, or six crafts activities — all the same format, same setting, same structure. This signals limited program planning range and ignores the diversity of recreation needs within a life stage that the characteristics section likely documented.
Instead
Vary across at least four of the six categories: physical/active, social/community, creative/arts, outdoor/environmental, educational/developmental, and special events. The six programs should demonstrate breadth of program planning competence, not depth in one activity type. A Senior cohort with six fitness programs has missed the social isolation, creative, and outdoor programming opportunities the characteristics section almost certainly surfaced.
No Reference Page, or Unsourced Statistics
Presenting demographic statistics, health data, and spending figures without citations, or including a reference list at the end that does not match the statistics actually used in the profile. The reference page is explicitly called out in the assignment instructions — it is not optional.
Instead
Assign one group member to track every statistic used in the profile and its source as data is collected — before writing begins, not after. Every number in the characteristics and trends sections must have a corresponding entry in the reference page. Use whichever citation format your course specifies consistently throughout.
Brochure Copy That Reads Like a Program Description
Writing program descriptions in the brochure copy section rather than promotional copy. “This program will teach participants yoga techniques in a group setting on Tuesday evenings” is a description. A brochure headline and copy must be persuasive, benefit-focused, and contain a call to action — otherwise it will not function as marketing material.
Instead
Read actual parks and recreation program brochures before writing yours. Your local parks and recreation department almost certainly publishes a seasonal program guide — review how they write about programs for the life stage you were assigned. The language, structure, and tone of professional RPLS brochure copy is the model for this assignment.
Presentation Slides Are the Profile Text
Copying the characteristics text onto slides and reading it aloud during the presentation. This does not demonstrate understanding of the content — it demonstrates that the text exists. Audiences cannot process dense text on a slide while also listening to a speaker, and assessors evaluating presentation skills will note the absence of synthesis and communication ability.
Instead
Slides hold data, visuals, and key points. The presenter holds the explanation. A slide showing a single statistic — “74% of Baby Boomers report recreation as important to quality of life (NRPA, 2023)” — with a presenter explaining what that means for program design is more effective and more impressive than a slide with four paragraphs of profile text.
Frequently Asked Questions
Putting the Assignment Together: What the Assessor Is Looking For
The participant profile assignment evaluates three intersecting competencies. First, whether you can research a population group rigorously — using credible, sourced data across the required characteristic categories and current trends. Second, whether you can translate that data into program planning decisions that are demonstrably grounded in the profile — not six generic programs that could apply to any life stage. Third, whether you can apply marketing knowledge to an RPLS context — not just listing marketing principles, but specifying how a parks and recreation agency would implement each strategy for its specific programs and facilities.
The presentation adds a fourth layer: communication competence. How well does the group convey its work to an audience? Does the fact sheet function as a professional reference document? Do the slides support rather than replace the spoken presentation? Does the brochure copy persuade rather than just describe? These are professional skills the assignment is designed to develop — not just academic outputs to be submitted and forgotten.
For direct support with any component of this assignment — whether you need help structuring the program designs, developing the marketing plans, formatting the fact sheet, or organising the slide deck — our academic writing team works with recreation and leisure studies coursework at all levels. We cover the full assignment structure, the research approach, and the applied marketing framework as an integrated service grounded in what RPLS course assessors evaluate.
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